Field Trip Earth: Featured Interview

Learning About Gray and Timber Wolves

Submitted by Mr. Erxlebin from Illinois on April 25, 2006

Thanks to Andrea Lorek Strauss, National Information and Education Director at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota, for answering these questions.

Questions and Answers

Question #1.
What do you think the most pressing reason is for the Gray (timber) wolf not to be taken off the Endangered Species List?
Answer:
People who want to see the wolf get more protection generally think the wolf should stay on the Endangered Species List. The belief is that federal laws are more strict and protective than state management plans. Of course, other people think we have plenty of wolves and therefore they don't need protection anymore. It's all a matter of one's viewpoint.

Question #2.
What effect do you forsee resulting if the gray wolf became extinct?
Answer:
To answer this question we can look at places that used to have wolves but no longer do, such as Kansas or California. What has happened there in the years since wolves have been gone? In some places, the wolf's prey species - such as deer and elk - become overpopulated. In other places, coyote populations boom in the absence of wolves, and sometimes coyotes eat the deer that the wolves would have eaten. Ecosystems are so complex that the absence of one predator may or may not make a huge observable difference - especially in the short run. However, there certainly are plenty of effects that we can't measure in our lifetimes even though changes are definitely happening.

Question #3.
Do you have an estimate of about how many wolves inhabited the US before europeans began to settle?
Answer:
No, there haven't been any official estimates of probable wolf population before European settlement.

Question #4.
Do you think the same results will occur as before (near extintion in US) for the Gray Wolf if it is taken off the Endangered Species list?
Answer:
I don't think citizens, funded by the government, will make a concerted effort to kill as many wolves as possible again. The world is a different place now and we have laws that protect wildlife. Most importantly, people's attitudes toward the environment have changed a great deal in the past 50 years and people understand more about how ecosystems work. In addition, if the wolf population did decline again the US Fish and Wildlife Service can implement emergency protections.

Question #5.
Do you think there's a way for the wolf to exist without the protection of the endangered species list?
Answer:
I do think we can figure out how to coexist with wolves peacefully. Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin will probably soon have the authority to implement their own wolf management (and people management) policies that will try to take into account the needs and interests of all citizens. Other states will be watching Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin to see what happens without federal protection for wolves. Hopefully everyone will learn from the successes and challenges.

Question #6.
Do you think the wolf will ever repopulate it's original range?
Answer:
Since humans are now living in most parts of the lower 48 states, it's unrealistic to imagine wolves living everywhere. It's also problematic to assume that wolves can thrive if we relegate them to the patchwork of parks and federally designated wilderness areas in our country. Each state where wolves live will find some balance between the demands humans place on the landscape and the needs of wildlife.

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